Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/02007—Details of bulk acoustic wave devices
  • H03H9/02086—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects
  • H03H9/02118—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects of lateral leakage between adjacent resonators
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/02007—Details of bulk acoustic wave devices
  • H03H9/02086—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H3/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators
  • H03H3/007—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks
  • H03H3/02—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks for the manufacture of piezoelectric or electrostrictive resonators or networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/02007—Details of bulk acoustic wave devices
  • H03H9/02086—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects
  • H03H9/02125—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects of parasitic elements
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/02007—Details of bulk acoustic wave devices
  • H03H9/02157—Dimensional parameters, e.g. ratio between two dimension parameters, length, width or thickness
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/125—Driving means, e.g. electrodes, coils
  • H03H9/13—Driving means, e.g. electrodes, coils for networks consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive materials
  • H03H9/132—Driving means, e.g. electrodes, coils for networks consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive materials characterized by a particular shape
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/15—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material
  • H03H9/17—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material having a single resonator
  • H03H9/171—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material having a single resonator implemented with thin-film techniques, i.e. of the film bulk acoustic resonator [FBAR] type
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/15—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material
  • H03H9/17—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material having a single resonator
  • H03H9/171—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material having a single resonator implemented with thin-film techniques, i.e. of the film bulk acoustic resonator [FBAR] type
  • H03H9/172—Means for mounting on a substrate, i.e. means constituting the material interface confining the waves to a volume
  • H03H9/173—Air-gaps
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/15—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material
  • H03H9/17—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material having a single resonator
  • H03H9/171—Constructional features of resonators consisting of piezoelectric or electrostrictive material having a single resonator implemented with thin-film techniques, i.e. of the film bulk acoustic resonator [FBAR] type
  • H03H9/172—Means for mounting on a substrate, i.e. means constituting the material interface confining the waves to a volume
  • H03H9/175—Acoustic mirrors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H3/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators
  • H03H3/007—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks
  • H03H3/02—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks for the manufacture of piezoelectric or electrostrictive resonators or networks
  • H03H2003/021—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks for the manufacture of piezoelectric or electrostrictive resonators or networks the resonators or networks being of the air-gap type
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H3/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators
  • H03H3/007—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks
  • H03H3/02—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks for the manufacture of piezoelectric or electrostrictive resonators or networks
  • H03H2003/025—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of impedance networks, resonating circuits, resonators for the manufacture of electromechanical resonators or networks for the manufacture of piezoelectric or electrostrictive resonators or networks the resonators or networks comprising an acoustic mirror
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/02007—Details of bulk acoustic wave devices
  • H03H9/02062—Details relating to the vibration mode
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
  • H03H—IMPEDANCE NETWORKS, e.g. RESONANT CIRCUITS; RESONATORS
  • H03H9/00—Networks comprising electromechanical or electro-acoustic devices; Electromechanical resonators
  • H03H9/02—Details
  • H03H9/02007—Details of bulk acoustic wave devices
  • H03H9/02086—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects
  • H03H9/0211—Means for compensation or elimination of undesirable effects of reflections

Definitions

• HIGH Q BULK ACOUSTIC RESONATOR WITH DIELECTRIC FLAPS BAW resonators in practice are finite in size along their lateral dimensions and have termination regions consisting of one of the following three types:
• Top and bottom interconnects are used to electrically connect a resonator's terminal to other elements in a circuit e.g. to other resonators arranged in a ladder type configuration forming a frequency filter.
• the termination region is typically formed by first terminating the top electrode, followed by terminating of bottom electrode, or by terminating both the top and bottom electrode at approximately the same location.
• the termination region is formed by terminating the bottom and top electrode, respectively, while allowing the other electrode to extend to another circuit element, such as a via or another resonator.
• Resonator termination regions are typically the main source of spurious mode excitation. At these locations the localized internal laterally acting forces acting back on the materials under compression or extension are not cancelled as they are near the center of the resonator. This results in excitation of lateral modes and other non-desired bulk modes which propagate back towards the resonator interior or outward away from the active resonator area. In either case, the energy is typically considered lost and results in an overall lower quality factor (Q) for the mode of interest - in this case the thickness extensional. In addition, spurious signals can show up in the electrical response of the device at
• properly optimized termination geometry improves the overall filter performance in-band and out-of-band with out-of-band performance being critical in multiplexing applications.
• This invention discloses novel resonator termination
• a BAW resonator comprises at least a substrate, a bottom electrode, a piezoelectric layer and a top electrode which may be arranged directly above one another in the given sequence from bottom to top.
• acoustic reflectors that are used to contain energy within the stack, which are generally air interfaces (e.g. with a film bulk acoustic resonator - FBAR) or an acoustic bragg structure containing alternating layers of high and low acoustic impedance
• An active resonator region is defined by an overlap of the bottom electrode layer, the piezoelectric layer, the top electrode layer, and the top and bottom acoustic reflectors, and does not include the lateral termination structures. In this active region it is preferred to excite only modes that propagate in a
• the inner-flap is a dielectric 3D structure that extends laterally and inwardly towards the central area of the resonator region and is distant to the top surface of the resonator and separated by a gap.
• a dielectric anchor of the flap attaches to the resonator device surface outside the active resonator area or as close to the edge of the active region as the process allows and extends for a finite length forming a feature denoted as an outer-lap.
• another flap denoted as the outer-flap, can be incorporated into the device, using the same dielectric layer that is used to form the inner-flap and outer-lap, which extends laterally and outwards away from the central area of the active
• the novel dielectric inner-flap disclosed is designed to be self-resonant like a cantilever mode fixed at one end and free on other around the same frequency that the active resonator region is resonant or anti-resonant ( in the thickness extensional mode) . Under this condition the
• the passive dielectric outer-lap region allows smooth tapering of the thickness extensional mode profile outside of the active area and reduces spurious lateral mode excitation.
• the outer- lap width can be optimized so that laterally leaking energy is reflected back at its termination and focused back to the active resonator region in a constructive manner, which further improves the device Q. Because the outer-lap
• top electrode connection metal is typically required to be protected from corrosion via encapsulating the entire device with a dielectric layer - here it doubles also as a frequency trimming layer. If the passivation layer is too similar (in terms of etch selectivity) to the inner- flap/outer-lap/outer-flap material, then creating an outer- lap in connection region becomes problematic as its
• patterning can expose a portion of the metal to the
• the outer-lap can be allowed to extend
• the inner-flap and outer-lap are arranged along the whole perimeter of the active resonator region.
• the outer-flap is optional and is arranged mainly in the region of the top electrode connection. At those regions where inner-flap outer-lap, and optionally outer-flap are present, these objects can be formed by a common dielectric 3D
• the final device is attained for example by modifying a post-trimmed and
• passivated resonator/filter by first, coating the wafer with a sacrificial material, then patterning the sacrificial material (e.g. remove in outer-lap regions), then coating the wafer with the 3D dielectric material, then patterning inner/outer-flaps in the dielectric, and then lastly removal of the sacrificial material.
• the lengths of the inner-flap, outer-lap, and optional outer- flap, are desired to be uniform in each of the termination regions i, ii, and iii, but are not required to be the same from region type to region type.
• the gap heights of all inner/outer-flaps are the same (but not required to be) given a single sacrificial layer process and single dielectric layer process as described above.
• the effective outer-lap total thickness can be considered larger than inner/outer- flap thickness if the underlying passivation layer thickness is included.
• the underlying passivation layer thickness is included.
• passivation layer and or electrode layer could be removed together with the sacrificial layer opening to: i) reduce the outer-lap effective thickness; and ii) to improve control of 3D dielectric structure alignment to the top electrode.
• the effective thickness of the top electrode is thinner when incorporating an optional feature denoted as an under-lap. This feature is useful to reduce spurious mode coupling at frequencies below the device's fundamental resonance (for a type II stack - not useful for a type I stack) when properly dimensioned.
• the under-lap structure is formed by recessing the electrode thickness, but in this invention it is formed in a novel way by trimming the passivation layer in selected locations around the resonator marginal region.
• a feature denoted as a trench meaning a trench in the passivation and inner-lap, outer-lap, and optional outer-lap layers down to the piezoelectric, can be formed during the dielectric 3D structure patterning.
• the lateral dimension can be tuned to further improve device Q.
• the Q enhancement can be attributed to creating additional reflection sites for remaining leaking later energy that when directed back towards the active resonator act constructively.
• Dielectric 3D structures and the passivation layer may comprise the same material and may be formed form e.g.
• the outer-lap may sit on the marginal region of the top electrode partly covering the surface thereof. Alternatively, the outer-lap does not cover any part of the top electrode in the active resonator region.
• the 3D structure is formed from a layer of unitary thickness over the resonator surface with a mostly conformal pattered sacrificial material. Hence, the top surface of the 3D dielectric follows the topography of the underlying surface where it is in intimate contact thereto.
• the invention can be used with BAW resonators of different construction types - e.g. film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBAR) or solidly mounted resonator (SMR) .
• FBAR film bulk acoustic wave resonators
• SMR solidly mounted resonator
• a SMR type BAW resonator is mounted in intimate contact of active resonator region and substrate.
• a Bragg mirror is arranged between substrate surface and bottom electrode.
• the mirror comprises alternating layers of high and low acoustic impedance. The greater the impedance difference the better the reflection coefficient or the lower the required number of mirror layers being required.
• the invention can be used at an FBAR which needs an air-filled cavity directly below the active resonator region.
• the cavity is formed as a recess in the substrate or by substrate removal from the bottom side forming a membrane.
• Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view through a BAW resonator according to the art
• Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view through a BAW resonator according an embodiment with inner-flaps and outer-lap, trench, and under-lap formed by patterning of the passivation layer, whereas the left side of the image shows a bottom electrode connection region and the right side of the image shows a top electrode region;
• Figure 3 shows an embodiment that has the same features of the Figure 2 embodiment, but is an SMR resonator type rather than an FBAR type ;
• Figure 4 shows an embodiment that has the same features of the Figure 2 embodiment, but has a TE connection electrode that is thinner than the active region electrode;
• Figure 5 shows in a cross-sectional view an embodiment that has the same features of the Figure 2 embodiment, but has the under-lap being formed in the top electrode rather than in the passivation layer;
• Figure 6 shows in a cross-sectional an embodiment that has the same features of the Figure 2 embodiment, but also includes optional outer-flaps in each of the following termination types: (i) non-connection, (ii) top-electrode connection, and (iii) bottom-electrode connection regions;
• Figure 7 shows in a cross-sectional view an embodiment that has the same features of the Figure 2 embodiment, but has inner-flaps that are not entirely parallel to the device surface, but rather are formed with a particular angle, but are generally pointed inward toward the active area;
• Figure 8 shows an embodiment that has the same features of the Figure 2 embodiment, but the bottom electrode (for type I and/or type ii terminations) is terminated before the
• FIG. 1 A cross-sectional view through BAW resonator according to the art is depicted in figure 1.
• a substrate SU of silicon for example a recess RC is formed.
• the active resonator region AR is arranged above the recess RC and comprises a substrate a bottom electrode BE, a piezoelectric layer PL and a top electrode TE .
• the bottom electrode Bauelement covers the recess RC .
• Under-lap UL, over-lap OL E , and outer-flap OF E structures are patterned out of the top electrode TE for termination regions of type i (none) and iii (bottom) .
• the top electrode is thinner than in the active region AR.
• the over-lap OLE region the top
• electrode TE is thicker than the active region AR.
• the outer-flap OFE is made of metal and extends outward from the active region AR.
• an under-lap UL, over-lap OLE, and an acoustic bridge AB connection are formed for the type ii termination region (top) for the type ii termination region (top) for the type ii termination region (top) for the type ii termination region (top) for the type ii termination region (top) an under-lap UL, over-lap OLE, and an acoustic bridge AB connection are formed.
• the acoustic bridge forms the tope elecectrode connection TC for connecting the top electrode to another resonator or a terminal of a filter.
• a passivation layer IL is applied over the top electrode TE, but does not passivate the sides of the electrode or the underside of the top electrode connection connection TC (air bridge) .
• Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view through a BAW resonator according to a first embodiment.
• a dielectric 3D structure structured from a dielectric layer DL forms inner flaps IF.
• a top electrode connection TC is structured from an extension of the top electrode layer TE .
• the top electrode TE has same thickness in the active region AR and the top electrode conection TC.
• the outer-lap OL is the part of the dielectric layer that directly contacts the piezoelectric layer PL along the perimeter of the active region AR but not at the region of the top electrode connection TC.
• the thickness of the passivation layer IL and/or dielectric layer DL is reduced by an under-lap UL .
• the 3D structure/dielectric layer DL has an overlap with the region where the under-lap UL is formed. This overlap is a small margin having a width G and extends along the whole perimeter of the active region with the exception of the section where the top electrode connection TC is formed.
• the 3D structure forming the inner-flap IF sits on the passivation layer IL at a region where it overlaps the bottom electrode BE.
• DL/passivation layer IS the top surface of the piezoelectric layer PL is exposed but not in the top electrod connection TC.
• an inner gap IG is formed where the dielectric 3D structure is in a constant distance to the dielectric surface.
• Over the top electrode connection passivation layer IS and dielectric layer DL have the original thickness.
• the 3D structure/dielectric layer DL is formed from e.g. SiN and sits on the passivation layer IL.
• the inner flap IF that is the inwardly projecting part of the 3D structure follows the topography of the top electrode layer TE in a constant distance keeping the inner gap IG of constant height. Hence, the inner flap follows the step from the under-lap UL to the active region AR.
• the bottom electrode BE may be elongated at on side edge of the active resonator region AR to form a bottom electrode connection BC .
• a thin passivation layer IL of e.g. SiN or Si02 covers the total surface of the top electrode TE and the top electrode connection TC.
• the thickness of the passivation layer IL is smaller than the thickness of the inner flaps and hence smaller than the thickness of the layer the 3D structure is structured from.
• the substrate Under the active resonator region AR the substratehas an air- filled recess RC like shown in the prior art resonator of figure 1.
• Bottom and top electrode BE, TE are made commonly used materials.
• the materials may be chosen from tungsten W, molybdenum Mo, and AlCu alloy or the electrodes may be multilayer hybrid electrodes e.g. W/AlCu.
• the piezoelectric layer PL may comprise AlScN that is
• aluminium nitride AIN that additionally contains scandium nitride ScN.
• the substrate SU preferably comprises silicon Si but may made from other suitable material too like HTCC and LTTC ceramics for example.
• Passivation layer IL and dielectric 3D structures may
• the non-connection region (not shown) is similar to the bottom electrode connection region, but has a bottom
• FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a new BAW resonator similar to the first embodiment.
• a Bragg mirror BM is arranged between substrate SU and bottom electrode BE.
• the Bragg mirror BM comprises alternating layers of a first material HI of high acoustic impedance and a second material LI of low acoustic impedance.
• the different layers of the acoustic Bragg mirror BM may form layers with decreasing area that a stepped mesa structure is formed. For clarity reasons the stepped Bragg mirror is not depicted.
• the first material of high acoustic impedance HI may be a metal like thungsten W for example.
• the second material of low acoustic impedance LI may be a dielectric like S1O2 for example.
• the high impedance layers HI are structured and embedded with the second material that is a dielectric to avoid coupling with neighbored resonators.
• Bottom electrode BE and the further layers above are embodied the same way as shown and explained with reference to figure 2.
• Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view through a BAW resonator according a third embodiment.
• This embodiment complies with the first embodiment with the exception that the thickness D of the top electrode in the top electrode connection TC is thinner than in the active region AR.
• a fourth embodiment of the invention is shown in figure 5. This embodiment complies with the first embodiment as shown in figure 2 with the exeption that the thickness H of the top electrode TE in the active region AR is reduced by an
• Thickness of passivation layer IS may be the same in the active region AR and in the margin region MR..
• Figure 6 shows a fith embodiment.
• the dielectric layer DL /3D structure forms inner flaps IF as shown in figure 2.
• the dielectric layer forming the 3D structure additionally forms outer flaps OF where the dielectric layer extends the outer- lap OL in a distance to the surface passivation layer IS. Thereby, an outer gap OG is formed .
• All other features of this embodiment may comply with figure 2.
• the passivation layer IL covers the entire surface of the top electrode TE, the top electrode connection TC and may further cover the piezoelectric layer PL where it is not covered by the top electrode TE or top electrode connection TC.
• the trench TR that is present in the embodiments of figures 2 to 5 is omitted.
• the outer flaps are optional feature for each termination type I, ii and iii.
• Figure 7 shows a BAW resonator according to a sixth
• This embodiment in a cross-sectional view.
• This embodiment that has the same features like the BAW resonator shown in figure 2 according to the first embodiment embodiment, but has inner-flaps IF that are not entirely parallel to the device surface, but rather are formed with a particular angle ⁇ , but are generally pointed inward toward the active region AR.
• Figure 8 shows a seventh embodiment that has the same
• terminations is terminated before the substrate anchor point where the bottom electrode BE contacts the edge of the substrate SU in the recess RC .
• the manufacture of the BAW resonator can be done in
• Each layer may be deposited separately and may be structures if requires after deposition.
• Deposition methods are sputtering, and CVD methods that can be plasma enhanced.
• the electrodes may be reinforced by galvanic process. Resist masks and
• Photolithography may be used where required.
• Projecting parts inner and outer flaps are formed by means of a sacrificial layers underlying the projecting portion when applied as a layer. After lateral structuring the dielectric layer
• the sacrificial layer can be removed by etching.
• a sacrificial layer of S1O2 can be selectively etched against SiN so that SiN can function as an etch stop.
• Si02 can be etched without removing the SiN of the dielectric 3D structure.
• resonators may be manufactured in parallel. Circuiting such resonators to a filter circuit in a ladder type arrangement, electrical connections and circuitry can be manufactured in an integrated process.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Piezo-Electric Or Mechanical Vibrators, Or Delay Or Filter Circuits (AREA)

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• 2017
  • 2017-08-17 DE DE102017118804.5A patent/DE102017118804B3/de active Active
• 2018
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  • 2018-08-02 CN CN201880052432.3A patent/CN111034037B/zh active Active
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